Linux Journal: Open-Source Software Opens New Windows to Third-World

“GNU/Linux, and tons of useful software that comes along with
it, is clearly attracting interest from a range of quarters. From
Pakistan to the UNDP, from Africa to Malaysia, and even in the
Philippines or Thailand and Nepal, GNU/Linux is being closely
watched, studied and adopted in a range of interesting
experiments.

“Created and propagated largely by volunteers, most of
GNU/Linux’s growth simply isn’t based on giant billion-dollar
spinning corporations that have the resources to promote its cause.
So, such success stories from the Third World could largely go
unnoticed.

“In large parts of the world where the average per capita income
is often less than the cost of a computer, the current phenomenal
price of software turns millions into “pirates”. In these parts of
the globe, words such as free or low cost are not necessarily
associated with low-quality, but offer to include millions who
otherwise would be simply left out in the cold.

“Because GNU/Linux is open source, there are no mountains of
secrecy blocking replicability. So prices of the same fall to a
point which is dramatically low compared to proprietary software
and thus affordable to the millions…”

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